Nobles
Nobles '''are members of the landed, martial aristocracy that rule the stars in a feudal structure. You will have a rank based on who you owe vassalage to and who owes vassalage to you: '''Monarch > Lord 'or '''Lady '> '''Knight (Lord '''and '''Lady '''are used interchangeably hereafter, and refer to the same mechanical rank) '''Monarchs '''are defined by having have two levels of vassal below them, '''Lords one level and Knights '''are '''Nobles '''without vassals. As a Noble you have command over '''Cohorts, military units, Scions, your children, and potentially Agents, experts in their field. Each Noble starts with two Scions, no Agents and a certain number of Cohorts based on their rank: Monarchs: 2 Cohorts +2 per Lady '''vassal and +1 per '''Knight vassal Lord: 1 Cohort +1 per Knight vassal Knights: 2 Cohorts EXAMPLE: I'''n a Kingdom consisting of thirteen '''Nobles a Monarch might have three vassal Lords, each of which has three vassal Knights. Each Knight will have two Cohorts at their disposal, each Lord '''will have four and the '''Monarch would have eight Cohorts, for a kingdom total of 38 Cohorts - Scions and Agents - Cohorts and War Scions are versatile''' resources that can be used in a variety of fields, mostly as diplomats, spies or generals. A '''Scion may be dispatched to visit a foreign character, allowing private communications to take place between yourself and that character for as long as they remain there. When visiting a foreign Noble, the Noble in question chooses which court they reside in, for a Knight'''this must be the court of their Lady', for a' Monarch this must be the '''Royal Court, '''a Lady may choose whether to house guests at their own court or at the Royal Court. At the end of each turn that they have resided at a court '''Scions can relay some intelligence back to their controller about the goings on at that court, mostly pertaining to mechanical interactions and who is present there. After having been visiting a court for a full turn, a Scion may be used to perform Acts of Intrigue, but run the risk of failure, discovery and likely imprisonment or execution. Lastly, Scions may be married to other Scions, permitting permanent communication so long as both Scions live, as well as other bonuses and maluses to interaction. On the military side, a Scion may be attached to a Cohort, '''doubling its effectiveness. In large armies consisting of '''Cohorts from multiple Nobles, '''there is a limit to how many Scions can provide benefits. At the largest scale, in an army with troops from a'''Monarch, Lords and Knights, this maximum bonus is six, up to one from the Monarch's Scions, up to two from Lords' Scions and up to three from Knights' Scions. '''No Noble can benefit from more than one Scion in a given battle, so in the above example, six individual Nobles would have to have allocated '''Scions to the army. Lastly, a Scion may be appointed regent, if a Noble wishes to take the field themselves. In this circumstance, a Noble's communication is restricted either to their liege, for Ladies and Knights, or to a Lady of their choice for Monarchs. '''A '''Noble may perform any function of a Scion, but does so with greater effectiveness (gaining full access to a foreign court as a diplomat, enjoying higher likely hood of success as a spy, and tripling the effectiveness of an attached Cohort). While in the field, a Noble's'''demesne and soldiers (other than attached '''Cohorts) fall under the command of the Noble their communication is restricted to) Agents function similarly to Scions, but have only one possible action that they can perform. Diplomats can be sent to foreign courts to provide communication, Spies can be sent to provide information and perform Acts of Intrigue and Generals can be attached to Cohorts with the same limitations as Scions. Agents may not serve as Regents. Each turn a Noble must decide the allocation of their Scions '''and Agents''' (diplomat, spy, general or regent, if regent is selected what action they wish to take in the field), and the actions of their Cohorts '''either to '''Advance '''into a neighbouring '''Demesne(triggering combat if a foreign army is present) or''' Garrison the Demesne '''they are occupying.